Portions of Wisconsin election laws ruled unconstitutional

A federal judge ruled Friday that portions of the Wisconsin voting laws are unconstitutional and were written to undermine Democratic voters.

In a 119-page ruling issued on Friday, U.S. District Judge James Peterson said that part of the law was written to suppress the "reliably Democratic vote of Milwaukee's African-Americans."

“Wisconsin has the authority to regulate its elections to preserve their integrity ... and a voter ID requirement can be part of a well-conceived election system," Peterson said in his ruling. "But ... parts of Wisconsin’s election regime fail to comply with the constitutional requirement that its elections remain fair and equally open to all qualified electors.”

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Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who signed the bill in 2011, was not pleased with the ruling.

"Disappointed in the decision by an activist federal judge," Walker said in a Facebook post. "Voters support common-sense measures to protect the integrity of our votes. Voting should be easy, but cheating should be hard."

Walker added that there will "likely" be an appeal.

Some of the election laws that were struck down include time limits on absentee voting and the increase of residency requirements from 10 to 28 days.

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The voter ID law remains but the prohibition against voters using expired but still qualifying student IDs was also struck down.

The ruling will not have an effect on the primary election in August, but will be in place for the Nov. 8 general election, barring an appeal by Walker or someone hoping to further strike down the voter ID law.

A court case challenging Wisconsin's voter ID law is scheduled for trial on April 16th. The judge's injunction means photo IDs will not be required to vote in the state's election on April 3rd. The judge also said there's a "very substantial likelihood" the plaintiffs will win their challenge of the law.

There are very few undecided voters in the recall election of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. So candidates and their supporters are waging a huge effort to get out the vote ahead of a contest that has become a national showdown over union rights.

The League of Women Voters has sued to try to stop a law that would require voters to show a photo ID before they can cast a ballot. The law is set to go into effect in Wisconsin in 2012. Republicans in Minnesota want to pass a similar rule but Gov. Dayton is opposed.

Wisconsin's Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen plans to act quickly in seeking a stay in a court decision made by a judge Friday that overturned the law that repealed most collective bargaining for local government and school district employees. Gov. Scott Walker says the ruling ultimately won't amount to anything, but it left many in the state confused.

A recall election for Gov. Scott Walker has not yet been officially ordered. But if and when it does happen, it will be on June 5. A judge also extended until March 30 a deadline for state officials to verify the signatures on recall petitions.